Medscape article...low cholesteral & Autism

[Guest guest]

Low Cholesterol Levels Seen in Children With Autism

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 15 - Many children with autism spectrum

disorders (ASD) display abnormally low levels of total cholesterol, according

to a

report in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B for September.

These low levels may play a role in the pathogenesis of ASD.

This deficient appears to stem from an inability to produce cholesterol, not

from inadequate dietary intake or impaired intestinal absorption, the

findings suggest.

Previous reports have linked autism with -Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS),

a genetic disorder involving impaired cholesterol synthesis. However, the

rate of SLOS and other sterol disorders among ASD patients was unclear.

Analysis of blood samples from 100 children with ASD failed to identify

sterol levels consistent with SLOS, lead author Dr. Elaine Tierney, from the

Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, and colleagues note.

Unexpectedly, however, the researchers found that 19 of the children had

total cholesterol levels that fell below 100 mg/dL, the 5th centile for

children

over 2 years of age.

" We know that people can tolerate having low cholesterol, so we suspect that

deficiencies in cholesterol combined with mutations to a specific gene may

have resulted in autism spectrum disorders in these children, " Dr. Tierney

said in a statement.

" Our next steps are to determine if other abnormalities of cholesterol

metabolism can be risk factors for the development of autism, " she added.

Am J Med Genet 2006

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[Guest guest]

Margaret, I also posted a link to this article awhile back and asked if anyone

here had noticed low cholesterol with their kids. Just wondering as j has always

had low chol. (Sorry I can't say the same for mom and dad:-)

Sherry